Analysis News From the bidding war for Hipgnosis Songs Fund to ByteDance’s battle for TikTok in the US… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days…
News Music industry veteran Richard Stumpf launches Hawkeye Music PublishingNew company has named Round Hill Music as a strategic partner
News Warner Chappell strikes exclusive deal with BandLab Technologies that includes a JV to identify and sign songwriters on ReverbNationCompanies to identify and sign 'top-performing singer-songwriters' across the ReverbNation platform
News Downtown Music announces sudden passing of ‘beloved and highly respected’ CTO, Manan VohraExec is described by Downtown as an 'inspirational and visionary leader'
Analysis News ByteDance would rather shut TikTok in the US than sell if legal challenge against ban law fails (report)Citing sources, Reuters reports that TikTok's parent 'would prefer' to shut the app down in the US if court challenge is unsuccessful
News Billie Eilish and Green Day among 250+ artists backing US Senate bill to reform ticketing industryThe bill would require disclosure of a ticket's final sales price before purchase, and strengthen enforcement of laws against ticket-buying bots
Analysis News Epidemic Sound has courted controversy over its ‘buy-out deals’. Here’s exactly how the company pays artists…MBW Explains is a series of analytical features in which we explore the context behind major music industry talking points
News US independent vinyl retailers call for end to artist/label D2C pre-sell exclusivity windows"By restricting pre-sale opportunities ... record labels create a two-tiered system that privileges certain consumers over others."
News After Concord bids $1.511bn for Hipgnosis Songs Fund, Blackstone tells HSF shareholders: Don’t move a muscle, we’ll be right backIt's all about those "irreovcables"...
News PAI Partners takes majority stake in professional audio equipment maker AudiotonixA news report suggests the deal for Audiotonix is worth nearly GBP £2 billion.
News Luminate reaches music sales data collection deal with indie record storesThe new arrangement defuses a controversy over how Luminate collects data on physical music sales at indie stores
News Symphonic Distribution hires UMG and BMG veteran Stephen Nightingale as VP, A&R and Business Development, CanadaNightingale has worked with acts such as Guns n' Roses, the Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails across his two-decade career
News Amid controversy over Spotify’s songwriter payments, Daniel Ek cashes out $118.8 million in company sharesEk's move on the New York Stock Exchange comes amid criticism for Spotify for reducing the royalty rate via which it pays songwriters in the US
Analysis News A new ‘music-only’ subscription tier is coming to Spotify, confirms Daniel Ek… and 4 other things we learned on the company’s latest earnings callSpotify is making good on its aim to become more than a music streaming service
Analysis News Concord isn’t giving up on Hipgnosis Songs Fund, as it bids $1.51 billion – less than 1% higher than Blackstone’s proposed offerHSF's board is unanimously recommending this offer to shareholders